by Bex Dane
He presses his middle finger over mine and teases my sensitive clit with the air from the bubbles adding another layer of pleasure around it. I throw my head back and moan, letting his shoulder support the weight of my head. I'm floating in bliss from the combined sensations of his heat at my back, wet scratchy kisses on my shoulder, and talented fingers and artfully aimed bubbles stimulating between my legs. My hands reach up to grab him behind his neck, my breasts pushing out, my fingers scratching through the hair at the nape of his neck. I want to watch us in the mirror, but I'm utterly debilitated right now and can't keep my eyes open.
"Cutter…" It's a warning that I've lost control and I'm about to blast off into outer space.
"Yes." He growls in my ear. "You gonna come for me, Cass? Come all over my fingers. Your sweet pussy pulsing on my leg. Do it because I need to see it and feel it." His other hand wraps around my waist and hauls me back, smashing his hard cock up against my spine. He moves us closer to the jets and removes our fingers. That's it. It feels so good, I can't breathe. I'm seizing, jerking, wriggling, but he's holding me firmly in place, anchoring me to the Earth while my body blasts into the cosmos.
"Fuck, yes." His voice is exultant like he's the NASA crew back on base cheering for the astronauts after a successful launch, but I'm in the stratosphere in my head and can only grunt to let him know I'm still here with him physically.
As the quaking subsides, a new urgency flows from him as if it were a heat wave. "You on the pill?" His question is a low growl pleading for me to say yes as his knee moves from between my legs, leaving me open and wanting.
"Yes."
He groans and his tip pauses at my slick entrance, sliding back at forth through my wet folds.
I reach down and guide him. "It's okay."
He's careful as he pushes inside and the pressure builds. Much too careful. My body is ready and waiting. I've been ready for a long time.
"Don't go slow, Cutter. Don't wait anymore."
That's all he needs to let go. Water sloshes in a wave with his forceful thrust and we both moan. I fall forward as my legs go weak.
He puts my hands up on the mirror so I can push back. In the mirror, his eyes watch my reaction. My mouth is lax, and I'm lost to him. I look sexy and tousled in a way I've never seen before.
Something in him changes, and he's done being careful. He's accepted this too and pumps into me will all his force. "Fuck yeah." He grabs my hair and tugs back and he's totally in control. His arm pushes me down to meet his giant cock pounding in and out.
His thrusts grow more urgent, and his fingers return to my clit. I don't know if I can take another orgasm. I'm still recovering from the last one. His forearm supports my weight and one hand lands on my breast. He pinches my nipple and I moan as he brings me high again, the second time more turbulent and fast than the first.
My belly clenches and another orgasm bursts through me. He groans as he falls over the edge too and we're one giant throbbing, pounding body, floating in a hot whirlpool. I manage to open my eyes long enough to see the ecstasy on his face. The serene way his mouth drops open and his eyes close lazily. All his hard lines are gone, and he's surrendered everything to this moment. I love that I brought him here, and I get to be the one to witness it. He's still pumping to drag it all out when a gust of hot breath caresses my shoulder blades as he kisses them. He's returning to me and connecting again as we come down from our out-of-this-world high.
Slowly, he pulls out, turns me to face him, and devours me with a fervid thank-you kiss.
This is how sex should be. Transformational to the point where all your worries seem inconsequential. As long as we can embrace each other and connect at a primal level like this, nothing else can touch us. He brought out a side of me I didn't even know I had. I've heard it exists, but never believed I'd actually get to experience it.
We embrace in the water for a long time, gently kissing and nipping and savoring the euphoria. Finally when my fingers are wrinkled raisins, I say, "I think we got all the makeup off."
He laughs. "Yes, I think we did too. And a few other things."
"We sure did."
He smiles and gets out to reach for a bath towel. He hands me one first as he drips soapy water onto my floor. I have to admit, a naked adonis handing me a bath towel was not something I had on my bingo card for tonight.
I peel off my wet tank and dry off my sensitive skin with the scratchy towel. We climb in my bed naked, and he turns my back to his front. No talking, just spooning, basking in the luxury of our afterglow.
His strong arm twines under and around my waist until his hand rests on my other hip. Warm breath hits my neck. We haven't been alone together in a bed like this before, and it's phenomenal. Have I ever been with a man like him? Big, strong, confident, complex, vulnerable, protective. He definitely knows the answer to nature's Rubik's cube and many other of life's great wonders.
No. No one has ever come close to the magnificence of him.
"Goodnight, Freddy," I whisper. I know I'm going to have naughty Freddy dreams tonight instead of nightmares.
"Night, zombie." His deep, rich voice feels like a kiss.
***
I'm working on editing the video from last night when Cutter wakes up. His warm breath and lips brush my neck. He looks over my shoulder at the screen. I've just added music to the footage of us walking out in full makeup. It's my favorite part, and I keep rewatching it.
"Watch this." I show him the walking clip with Star Wars music dubbed over it. It's great because he's so tall, I look like a miniature zombie compared to the big bulky Freddy next to me. We're a misfit psychotic duo.
He laughs and rubs my shoulder as he watches it. He looks happy. Lazy eyes, beard filling in, floppy hair. I hope happy is his new normal. He shouldn't be so sad all the time, and he's gorgeous when he smiles.
He slides my chair back and bends his knees till he's at my eye level. "What's your schedule look like?"
I like that he wants to make plans with me. "I'm off for a week. I always take a break after Halloween. Then I start a new gig next Monday. It's a full-time stint on a TV show. Low budget, but I'm so excited."
"Good for you. But you have a week off first?" His hands caress my thighs.
"Yes."
"Come up to the cabins tonight. Have dinner with us. No fights this week. Just family."
Did I hear him right? "You want me to have dinner with your family?"
He reaches for my hands and squeezes them. "Yeah. Then stay with me."
"Stay? You don't have to work?"
"I have to teach during the day, but you could hang out with Mila. Help her with the kids?"
"Um, no. Kids aren't my thing. Scaring them is fun. Talking to them is scary."
He laughs.
What would I do up at Twist Cabins if he was teaching classes? "Can I take your class?"
He pulls me up to stand next to him and wraps an arm behind my back like he can't keep his hands off me. He wants to stay close even if we're just making plans for our day. "You want to learn to fight?"
"Yeah. Why not? I saw your sisters doing it. I have a kubotan and everything."
He grins down at me. "Okay. We'll start you out with karate."
"Yes. I'd love that. Can I do the screaming thing?"
"The haka?"
"Yeah."
"It's not screaming, but we can talk to Mace about teaching you a haka at some point." He nods and bends down to plant a soft kiss on my nose.
This will be such an adventure and I'm always up for those. "All right. Let's go now. I want to hang out with the bucket-list brothers."
His back goes stiff. "Where'd you hear that?"
"Some girls at the fight." I don't even remember their names now.
He lets me go and takes a step away. "Don't listen to that."
"They have lists and favorites. You were on the top of a few of their lists. They think you're dangerous."
"That's ridiculous." He scoffs
and shakes his head.
"You're not?"
"Oh, I am. It's crazy they want it." He runs his palm over his hair and looks worried by this news. I don't think it's unreasonable to have Cutter at the top of your bucket list, especially now that I know how incredible sex with him can be.
"Then I'm crazy too. I want it and I got it. I want it again and again."
That seems to quell whatever he was worried about. "You got it. Get packed." He grins and pats my hip.
Yes!
Chapter 17 No Big Deal
We're lying in Cutter's bed in his cabin in the early evening after driving up to Big Basin from Los Angeles. Our pliant legs are twined like a licorice stick, the final configuration we landed in after being wrapped like pretzels as we made love.
"You have goosebumps." He rubs my forearms which are all he can reach because I'm behind him. "You cold?"
"No," I whisper. I'm not cold. How could I be with his inferno in front of me? No. I'm freaking out because an idea just came to me and I'm puzzling it out. If it's true, it makes my skin crawl and scares me to death.
If it's not true, then my imagination has run amuk again and it wouldn't be the first time. But staring at the scars on Cutter's back evokes more than pain and anger in me. It makes me feel like I should know who did this. It's not some nameless "bio dad" like he said. His bio dad has a name, and as I think back to his turbulent yet restrained reaction in the truck when I asked about Neil Ainsman, I might know who it is.
"We trust each other now, right?" My eyes focus on the deepest grove on his right shoulder which slices down to the left. He's added a blade and handle to it so it's become the thick side of a carving knife. A drop of blood drips eternally from its pointed end.
"Working on it."
I'm surprised by his reaction. In my mind, I'm already loyal and true to him, but I need to remember this is a man with scars. Trusting me won't come instantly. I'll have to earn it. That's okay. I relish the challenge of gaining more of his trust. In order to do that, I have to tread carefully here. I can't charge into his secrets and force them out. I have to be subtle. Let him know I'm here, but not prying. I'm ready to accept it when he feels it's time to give it to me.
"How did you even notice the Victoria's Secret models had gone missing?"
His back goes rigid and the languid embrace we shared evaporates. He pulls his legs away, and his grip on my forearm tightens. "I saw it in the news." He answers curtly, but the timbre of his voice implies so much more left unsaid.
I wait for a long time to see if he will relax or turn and offer me the information I seek, but he stays quiet. His shoulders remain high. I'm going to push it one more time tonight. After that I'll drop it. I don't want to ruin our week together with accusatory questions that will upset him. He's found a contented refuge in my arms, and I want him to feel safe there. We have plenty of time to dive deeper into this. "But why do you feel like you're the one who should investigate it? Even going so far as to donn an identity to gain access to him."
He's instantly up from the bed, pulling his jeans on, and digging for his smokes. When he has them in his hand, he looks back at me in his bed. "Because he's so rich and so powerful, the cops won't even investigate him. Even if fifty models went missing, no one would suspect him. But I can see it in his greedy eyes. He's a predator through and through, and he gets away with it because he has more money than God. I had a hunch. I followed up on it, and I still think I'm right. The fact he drugged you is even more proof." He walks to his nightstand, grabs a lighter, and heads to the door. "I'm going out for a smoke."
He doesn't look back, and his cold exit chills my bones. The goosebumps are back. He never said it directly, but he exposed it in the sharp stress in the corners of his voice.
Arthur Morganstein is his biological father, and he's out for revenge.
***
"I'm nervous," I say as we leave his cabin and head over to his parents' cabin for dinner.
"Nothing to worry about. Not a big deal at all." He grins at me like he's high as a kite.
I have to hold back my guilty laughter. After he came back in from having a smoke, he'd calmed down. He brushed his teeth then hauled me into the shower. We spent way too long in there. His hands moved frantically over me, and his hot kisses had me transfixed. He put his mouth on me like he said he's been aching to do. I put my mouth on his huge cock that's been calling my name. We got lost in each other and pushed it right up to dinner time.
"They're going to know we had life-altering sex. Your skin's all red. I'm still a hot mess. I feel like I'm floating in space." We rushed out of the shower, and I tossed on some jeans and some ultra-fast makeup. The roots of my hair are still wet.
He gives my hand a squeeze. "They won't care. Been doing family dinners every Sunday for years. No one even looks at me. They're all wrapped up in their own drama."
I'm not sure I believe him. It's hard not to look at him. He's so formidable and commanding. He's the oldest too, and his siblings idolize him.
The sun setting through the tall trees surrounding Twist Cabins casts long sharp beams of white light onto the pine needles covering the ground.
He smirks and throws an arm over my shoulder. "Life-altering, huh?"
I stop and force him to look into my eyes. "C'mon. Admit it. That was the most epic experience of your life." There's no way I'm misinterpreting what passed between us in the last twenty-four hours. We eclipsed reality and superheated straight to Xanadu.
He looks down at the rough earth under his boots, and his shoulders heave with a deep breath. When his eyes come up again, he checks around us to see if we're alone. "Never in my life have I been with a woman like you. You come alive and you're so tuned in, I can feel it in my balls." His voice is gritty and profound. "Makes me want to keep giving that to you for a long time just to keep you in that place. The cool thing is it satisfies me too. I like connecting with you there because it's straight-up authentic and cool like I've never felt before. I know it's early, but I wasn't lying. I want to go down this road with you, and if things keep going the way they are, I'm all in for a lifetime of life-altering sex."
I gasp and gulp down the big lump in my throat. "Uh. Me too." I want to say more but he captured everything I'm feeling with that.
"Good." He kisses me and pulls me up against his body for an impassioned, hot, wet, kiss. He releases me, and I stumble as we return to walking hand in hand. "One thing."
"What?"
"From now on, you go ghost hunting with me, not Mace or any of my brothers."
This strikes me as odd because Mace was super nice to me. I don't see why we couldn't go on an adventure together. "What if he wants to go with us?"
His brow curls like he didn't think of that option. "I have a feeling after he knows you're mine, he's suddenly going to lose his interest in ghost hunting."
"Oh." His? Holy crap. I'm his? And he's going to let Mace know? This all happened so fast, but I believe in him and us and I'm flying high on cloud nine, so I'm going to try not to worry and enjoy it.
We walk into the main cabin holding hands, and the raucous sound of a crowd of happy people hits my ears. As we step through the door, the room goes silent from front to back as each person looks up to see what everyone is looking at. They're all frozen staring at me like I've crashed their party and I'm an alien intruder here to snatch their bodies.
Cutter waves his hand for them to carry on and they go back to doing their thing.
He plops a tub of potato salad on the table—our contribution to the potluck courtesy of Blackie's Deli—and wraps his arm around my neck. I can feel eyes on me, but they glance away all sly-like when I look at them. He pulls me close in a warm hug.
"You said it wouldn't be a big deal," I say as I look up at him.
His eyes glow as he gazes down at me. "This is what it's like when it's not a big deal. You should see what happens when it's a big deal."
Mila walks over to us and hugs me. "Hi, Cass. I'm s
o glad he brought you to dinner."
"Thanks for having me."
"Of course." She gives Cutter a hug too. The way he gently rounds her into his arms makes me smile. The love between them is unmistakable.
Mace walks up to us next. Cutter lets go of my hand to give Mace a fist bump, a palm grip, and a shoulder grab then quickly takes it again.
"You remember Cass?" Cutter asks Mace in a casual voice, but Mace's eyes blow wide as he stares at our hands.
He swallows what he's chewing and nods. "Yes, I remember. Seen any aliens lately?" His long hair is tied back tonight, and he's wearing some really stylish corduroy pants with big pockets and buttons. He's handsome and rugged like Cutter, but in his own unique way.
"Nope," I answer his question about the aliens. No one ever really sees an alien. It's a lot of waiting around and having fun with your friends while you star gaze. The story I told him last time was heavily embellished. I did see someone in the orchard, but I don't think it was an alien space brother. It was more likely a seasonal worker or my dad on a foggy night.
"This is new." Mace points to our locked hands.
"Yep," Cutter answers matter of factly.
"Awesome." He nods and leans back as an easygoing smile blooms on his lips. "Welcome to Sunday night dinner at the Twists."
"Thank you." My tummy flips. If it was no big deal, why would he say it that way?
Cutter takes me over to a girl I recognized from Marshawn's fight but didn't get a chance to meet. She has pretty light blue eyes like his, but her hair is darker. "This is my sister Sutton."
"Hi there. I'm Cass." Now that he's told me all about his bio-sister, I feel like I know her even though this is our first official meeting.
"Oh wow. Cool. Nice to meet you." She's fighting a huge grin and blowing her lips out like she wants to burst out of her skin. Her arms jut out quickly and engulf me in a tight hug. "Hi, Cass."
